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Thomas Purney
Rev. Thomas Purney (1695-1730?) was an English poet, cleric, and crime writer. Life Nothing is known of Purney's origins and background. He was educated at Merchant Taylors’ School in London and at Clare College, Cambridge, earning a Bachelor of Arts BA in 1716. Later that year he published the first volume of Pastorals. After the Simple Manner of Theocritus . Second and third editions were published within a few months.Purney, Thomas (1695–c.1730), Blackwell Reference Online. Web, Sep. 30, 2016. Purney published a second volume of Pastoral poetry, Pastorals. Viz. The Bashful Swain: and Beauty and Simplicity, in 1717. In the same year Purney published A Full Enquiry into the True Nature of Pastoral, an elaborately schematic account of the genre under the headings of plot, action, moral, manners, characters, imagery, “thoughts,” and language. In 1719 Purney became Ordinary of Newgate, with the lucrative opportunity to publish criminal "confessions". After 1725 his health declined, and he resigned his post in 1727.Rev. Thomas Purney(1695-1727 ca.), English Poetry, 1579-1830, Center for Applied Technologies in the Humanities, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. Web, Sep. 30, 2016. Writing In the preface to Pastorals, Purney commended Ambrose Philips, whose 1709 Pastorals used English scenery, deliberately naive “rustic” vocabulary, and non-classical names. Purney also commits himself to the views on pastoral expressed in a well-known sequence of essays in The Guardian, which Purney thought were by Joseph Addison, but which were were in fact by Thomas Tickell. The one work that Purney quotes directly turns out to be the infamous parody essay on Philips by his rival, Alexander Pope. '' The book itself contained two pastoral narratives of love and innocence, the first set in Kent; they were equipped with plot summaries for the specific use of confused members of “the Soft-Sex.” Publications *''Pastorals: After the simple manner of Theocritus''. London: H. Parker, for Jonas Brown & R. Burleigh, 1717. *''Pastorals; viz, The bashful swain and Beauty and simplicity''. London: H. Parker, for Jonas Brown, 1717. *''The Chevalier de St George: An heroi-comick poem, in six cantos''. London: W. Chetwood, 1718. Non-fiction *''A Full Enquiry into the True Nature of Pastoral. London: H. Parker, for Jonas Brown, 1717; Ann Arbor, MI: Augustan Reprint Society, 1948. *''The Ordinary of Newgate His Account ... of the malefactors that were executed at Tyburn on Friday the 29th of January, 1719-20. London: John Applebee, 1720. *''The Ordinary of Newgate His Account ... of the malefactors that were executed at Tyburn on Monday the 27th of June, 1720''. London: John Applebee, 1720. **''The Ordinary of Newgate His Account ... of the malefactors that were executed at Tyburn on Wednesday the 26th of October 1720''. London: John Applebee, 1720. *''The Ordinary of Newgate His Account ... of the malefactors that were executed at Tyburn on Wednesday the 8th of February, 1720-21''. London: John Applebee, 1721. *''The Ordinary of Newgate His Account ... of the malefactors that were executed at Tyburn, on Monday the 3d of April, 1721''. London: John Applebee, 1721. *''The Ordinary of Newgate His Account ... of the malefactors that were executed at Tyburn, on Monday the 11th of September, 1721''. London: John Applebee, 1721. *''The Ordinary of Newgate His Account ... of the malefactors that were executed at Tyburn, on Wednesday the 14th of March, 1722''. London: John Applebee, 1722. *''The Ordinary of Newgate His Account ... of the malefactors that were executed at Tyburn, on Friday the 4th of May, 1722''. London: John Applebee, 1722. *''The Ordinary of Newgate's Account ... of Matthias Brinsden, who was executed at Tyburn, on Monday, the 24th of September, 1722''. London: John Applebee, 1722. *''The Ordinary of Newgate's Account... of the Malecfactors ... Executed on the 9th of November 1722''. London: John Applebee, 1722. *''The Ordinary of Newgate His Account ... of the malefactor, that was executed at Tyburn, on Monday the 8th of April, 1723''. London: John Applebee, 1723. *''A True Account... of Capt. J. Massey, who was executed at ... Wapping ... for Piracy''. London: John Applebee, 1723. *''The Account .. of Philip Roche: Who was executed at Execution Dock, at Wapping, on Wednesday, the 14th of this instant August, for piracy''. London: John Applebee, 1723. *''The Ordinary of Newgate His Account ... of Humphrey Angier, and Joseph Middleton, who were executed at Tyburn, on Monday, the 9th of September, 1723.. London: John Applebee, 1723. *''The Ordinary of Newgate His Account ... of the two malefactors, who were executed at Tyburn, on Monday the 3rd of February 1723. London: John Applebee, 1724. *''The Ordinary of Newgate His Account ... of the five malefactors, who were executed at Tyburn on Wednesday the 29th of April 1724''. London: John Applebee, 1724. *''The Ordinary of Newgate His Account ... of the two malefactors, who were executed at Tyburn on Monday the 15th of June, 1724''. London: John Applebee, 1724. *''The Ordinary of Newgate His Account ... of the malefactors, who were executed on Monday the 24th of this Instant May, at Tyburn''. London: John Applebee, 1725. *''The Behaviour, Confession and Dying Speeches of the four malefactors ... executed ... May the 24th, 1725''. London: John Applebee, 1725. Collected editions *''Works'' (edited by H.O. White). Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1933. Edited *John Bolkley, The Last Day: A poem, in xii books. London: J. Peele, 1720. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Thomas Purney, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Oct. 1, 2016. See also *List of British poets References External links ;Poems *Rev. Thomas Purney(1695-1727 ca.) info & English Poetry, 1579-1830 ;Prose *"The True Nature of Pastoral". Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV Category:18th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:English poets